The Little Xia
by MarioFireRed
Summary: Born from a great warrior family, Ara Haan lived a relatively peaceful life in the Isshun village. All that changed when her brother, the now demon Ran, led the raid to her village. During the attack, Ara stumbles upon a mysterious hairpin which strikes a deal up with her: Help her find the El and it will aid her in her search. Accepting the deal, can Ara find her lost brother?
1. Chapter 1: The Silver Fox

**Me: YES! FIRST ARA STORY IN THIS WEBSITE!**

**Ara: WOO! FINALLY RECOGNITION!**

**Me: Mhm. I'm so glad I'm gonna try to make this pretty close to canon as I can because of how interesting your backstory is!**

**Mario: Wow, you're definately gonna choose Ara when she comes to NA Elsword huh?**

**Me: YOU BET! NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, CHAPTER 1 START!**

* * *

_Chapter 1: The Silver Fox_

_An orange flower-shaped necklace dangled from the young girl as she hurriedly ran home for the great news. As one expected from the great Haan family in the humble Isshin village, the girl's older brother achieved a great feat._

"_Is it true!" The young girl clad in an orange dress exclaimed when she arrived home to her parents and brother, her long tied black hair whipping with the wind outdoors. "Aren you became the Defense-Captain of the Fahrmann country?" She excitedly asked her older sibling, who greeted her back with proud eyes._

"_Yes Ara I did!" Aren Haan nodded. He twirled his sword, a black broadsword, and sheathed it. "All that training really paid off. I couldn't help but thank you for being my sparring partner with that spear of yours." He pointed to the royal-like orange spear in her hands. "You seem to be getting the hang of it Ara."_

_The young girl scratched the back of her head, trying her best to humbly accept her brother's words of praise. "Oh it's no big deal big brother. I only needed an excuse to better myself with my spear." Ara punted the ground twice with the bunt of her spear. Her mother, like her father with Aren, started training with her at a young age in order to pass on the warrior teachings throughout the generations._

_*RING!* Out of the blue Aren's messenger rang. Pulling it out, the strong 20 year old answered the call. "Hello?"_

"_Aren!" A firm and urgent male greeted him from the other line. "There's an onslaught of demons approaching Capital! We need you here to fend them off!" *beep. The line signed off._

_The boy sighed and stood up. "Well that's my cue to go to work."_

"_That's my boy!" Mr. Haan politely yet boldly shouted through the house. "You go and do a good job protecting our country!"_

"_Everyone's counting on you son, run along and bid Ara goodbye!" Mrs. Haan called from the porch, doing the laundry._

"_Yeah good luck out there brother!" Ara wished him luck, watching his back from the distance as he proudly dashed towards Fahrmann central. She lingered there, looking out on the landscape, until not even a speck of Aren can be seen. Closing the door behind her, she went inside for some quick meditation in her room. After all in order to properly train the body, you must train the mind and spirit as well._

_Before she knew it, the cricket's evening call broke her out of her mediation after several hours of pure silence. "Not a single thing is stirring on outside." Ara muttered. "I hope brother's alright back at the Capital."_

_Ara repositioned herself in her bed, getting all snug under the covers. Yawning she drifted off into sleep, not feeling hungry at the time._

* * *

The young Haan fidgeted in her sleep, reliving the dream yet again from 3 years ago. _I wonder what __Brother's doing right now in the Capital. I hope he's doing alright from the sudden demon invasions._ Ara shifted position again in order to drift into a peaceful slumber.

Unfortunately that was not the case.

*BANG!* *CRASH!* *BOOM!* Tramples of footsteps and exploding cannonballs woke up our little heroine. Violently jumping from her bed to the floor, Ara grudgingly woke up. _W-What is going on?!_ She thought to herself, still half-asleep. _*sniff *sniff. _Her nose wafted through the disturbing polluting scents choking the usually clean air in Isshin. _Is this..._ Alarmed, Ara scrambled to her feet and swiftly opened the door.

_FIRE!?_ *BARGE!* The front door got kicked down by three ominous creatures shrouded in darkness. Ara had a bad feeling about this and swiftly equipped her spear, which she kept in her room.

"I hear this is the place Ran told us about!" Ara stood there confused as the three of them conversed with each other. _Who is this Ran person?_

"You mean this is the great Haan family, protecting the famous sealed Nine-Tailed Fox?" Another one of them asked. _How do they know of our family history? _

"Precisely. And now this young girl will help us find it." The last one pointed Ara out and all three stared at her, their glowing purple eyes and obscure structures glaring at her like one giant blob of darkness.

Ara gripped her spear and asserted dominance. "Leave this village now or I, Ara Hann, will resort in using brute force to flush you demons out!"

"You? One of the great Haan? Related to these two?" One of them flung over two bloodied corpses, Ara's parents.

She froze in place horrified. _M-Mother?! Father?! _Then she took in a good view of the outside world. Hundreds upon hundreds of other demons ransacking and setting fire to all of the other houses, killing the occupants inside. All her friends, her mentors, and even strangers screamed in agony one by one or in a collective as they become skewered and joined the spiritual "Gumiho-God" of the afterlife. _W-What's happening? A-All of a s-sudden..._ The worse part in this realization is that Ara's house is the only one not turning into a burning hut and she's the only one alive at this point.

"Now we will find the great Fox altar and the Moon El within it!" All three demons charged at Ara.

Instinctively, she assumed a fighting stance. Thanks to her family's natural lithe gifts, Ara quickly stabbed all three demons, skillfully aiming at their heads. Once the three fell down in a pool of their purplish blood, more started to take their place.

"There she is! The last member of this stupid town!"

"The Moon El will be ours!"

"Not to mention the immeasureable power of the Nine-Tailed Fox!"

All of their collective murmurs built up to a greedy speed race to the top of the heap of riches as the hordes of demons filtered into the house. Ara, freshly warmed up, put her training to the ultimate test as she defended her home.

Thinking quickly, Ara spun her way through the crowd with a few rotating slashes of her spear, spinning with the weapon for further effectiveness. While she accomplished her mission to get to the center and killing all the ones in her way during the process, the vast amount of demons ganging up on her was far more than she measured.

Calming her mind from all the gruesome images she witnessed just moments ago, Ara tapped into her inner En, or Spiritual Energy, and began moping off the demon horde little by little.

"Gain Force!" As one demon charged right as her, Ara took out an orange spirit orb and absorb the creature's mana, stabbing it like a kabob and flinging it to the sidelines. As more and more demons charged at her inner circle, Ara rotated her spear and spun in a slightly outlined orange aura. _Spin! Spin! Spin! _She thought to herself, successfully fending off all the creatures who attacked her thus far.

However she couldn't spin forever and stopped, briefly pausing in order to stop her dizziness. Unfortunately, the demons took this opportunity to attack. Ara braced herself for the worst.

*CLANG!* *SLASH!* The demonic attacks connected but...didn't flinch her. _This must be the effects of the orange aura from the Great Spin. _Ara thought, thanking the Gumiho-God for this rare opportunity. _I think it's about time I finish this!_

Ara twirled her spear into the air and caught it mid-flight. Seeing all the demons below her sweatdrop in an "Oh Crap" moment, she unleashed a devastating earthquake. "FALLING DRAGON!" The rumbling effect of the attack instantly killed all those that surrounded her and knocked back the rest, near fatally injured in the process. Ara panted after performing her most powerful attack, but felt proud to keep her home safe...

...Until a crack appeared on the floor below her. To Ara's dismay, the crack grew bigger and bigger and bigger...

*CRASH!* ...Until it finally collapsed. The screaming young girl found her way tumbling into the family's forbidden basement. How did Ara know it was forbidden? Amongst all the dirt and rubble the basement suffered due to the wreckage above, only one place remained relatively sacred out of sheer luck.

A mysterious gray altar, with an even more unusual white fox-shaped hairpin on the floor next to it. Ara walked up to the fallen hairpin and the altar. "Is this..." Ara's mind clicked, flashbacks of her childhood training with her mother coming back to her.

"_Ara!" Her mother's voice called out to her during one of their training sessions. "Have you ever noticed the basement in our house?"_

_The little 12 year old shook her head. "No Mama, I never knew we had a basement."_

"_I figured I should tell you this now." Ara's mother explained. "In the basement is a mysterious altar we Haan are destined to guard, a mission passed down from generation to generation. Only the eldest male can ever set foot in the altar itself and witness the strange object in it, so only your father has seen it. He called it..."_

"The Great Fox Shrine?!" She looked down at the hairpin. It was embedded with jewels of indescribable colors and is fox-shaped white. Without thinking Ara picked up the hairpin. _This is the same symbol as the Nine-Tailed Fox from the legend. _She thought to herself. _Could this be the same Fo-_

"Well, what do we have here?" One demon dropped from above and stood above Ara, scaring her. Despite his chilling demonic voice, Ara mustered enough courage to quickly whip around and face her attacker. Once doing so her eyes shot wide in shock and horror.

"B...Brother?! Aren!" She screamed.

"Aren?" The demon tilted his head in amusement. "That's a name I haven't heard in a while. My name is Ran, the Demon General."

_No... _Ara tried to deny it, but the proof is standing right in front of her. The white haired, fiery eyed, and horned demon in front of her used to be her brother, and now he's a demon like the rest of them wanting to steel the El.

"Now move out of the way and give the Moon El peacefully and _maybe_ I'll spare your pathetic life!" Ran demanded and insulted.

But Ara stayed where she sat, holding that strange hairpin. "B...Brother!"

"Tch." Ran didn't flinch at Ara's newfound tears. "You're annoying. I changed my mind, I'll kill you and reduce the population of this worthless village to zero."

_What's with this girl?_ Ran thought to himself as she foolishly stood her ground despite being very visibly scared. _She must be related to this Aren character whose body I possess. It was an easy task taking over his mind thanks to our strong connection to the power of the moon. No matter. What happened before doesn't concern me, what does is gaining more power and restoring the Great Demon race to its former glory!_ He pointed his sword skyhigh, the black object absorbing and overflowing with dark energy.

Absentmindedly Ara shifted away from Ran still sitting and, after remembering the hairpin in her hand, instinctively held it over her head to protect herself.

"Oh?" Ran stared amused, still charging up dark energy. "What could a mere girl like you...possibly do with a stupid hairpin?" He slashed through the air towards Ara.

As if on cue, the white hairpin glowed (who, according to Ran, sounded _very_ pissed on being called stupid) and an enormous aura broke out, pushing Ran back and surrounded Ara.

"_Please rest for a bit...miss." _An unknown yet friendly female voice resonated in Ara's mind, as her mind began to become hazy. As if being controlled like a puppet, she can vaguely make out her body moving on her own from the brief flashes she made in order to keep herself awake from the sudden heavy drowsiness.

"Its...warm and...cozy." Giving in to the warmth of the light aura, Ara fell asleep.

* * *

_Ow..._ She rubbed her head and stood up from her slumber. _What a horrible nightmare! I can't believe I actually drea-_ Ara opened her eyes, shocked at the sight around her.

She awoke in the middle of the village, everything from her dream last night hauntingly coming true. All the blood, human and demon, stained all across the clearing and even in the demolished homes as she sat there petrified. Suddenly her eyes darted to her two hands. On her left is the mysterious hairpin that glowed the other night. And on her right is her spear, tainted purple and black from the blood of demons. "Ran..." Ara couldn't help but wistfully mutter the demon who took over her brother's body.

"_Ran? You mean that demon general? He managed to escape but I defeated every other demon I came across. Not a bad warm-up exercise in 700 years!" _Ara froze and stared at her left hand, bringing it up to eye level. The white hairpin is _radiating _with every word!

"!" Ara nearly stumbled over. The same female voice from the other night is talking to her right now!

"_Still shocked huh? I would be too if I was talking to an inanimate object, people would call you crazy if they saw you now, heh heh. Anyway, what I'm speaking is the undeniable truth. You survived the attack on the village because of me and I was able to awaken from my long slumber because of you, although this stupid seal on the damn hairpin you're holding is pretty irritating! A lady needs more room to breathe than this tiny little box!"_

"What...a talking hairpin!?" Ara still couldn't comprehend it. "What are you-"

"_Oh you may not have fully heard of me because of your young age." _

Before Ara could tell the hairpin that she's 17, it continued talking.

"_Anyway your family, the Haans, are the ones who protects the sealed me. They sealed me away into this hairpin...just because I have the ability to foresee the future of this world. Thanks to their ancient mumbo jumbo, I can't look into the future anymore! Those imbeciles! Oh sorry not your family, I mean the ones long ago who imprisoned me here and took my powers away haha!" _

Ignoring the dumbfounded Ara, the hairpin delved deeper into it's tale.

"_Hmm...I still don't have enough energy to undo this spell. After 700 years you'd think I'd save up enough power to break free from here..."_

"..." Being the polite girl she is, Ara said nothing until the hairpin finally remembered her.

"_That's right! You over there holding me! I'm bound by this object thanks to a magic seal. I'm gonna need a large amount of El to break free of this accursed spell, let's go look for that first!"_

"What?" Normally Ara would gladly accept, but there's no way she's taking orders from a hairpin. "Why do I need to help you?"

"_I saved your life didn't I? That alone should be enough! Also what about those demons that did this to everyone you loved in this village? Don't you want to take revenge on that demon leader who I regrettably let escape?"_

Ara's eyes darkened. "He's...not their leader. Are- I mean Ran is...my brother." She started to tear up from the horrible memory.

"_Really, he's your brother? I'm sorry to say this but your so-called brother sounded pretty insane from his actions last night. I don't need to see into the future to know he can never go back to normal."_

"But we...we can still try!" Ara pleaded with the hairpin. "We need to...get him back! I just...can't stand him living...like that. He might be...conscious knowing of that..._thing_ taking over him!"

"_I see. I like your determination young girl. I want to lend you my strength for a bit."_

"Huh?" She sat there confused.

"_Let's make a deal. If I help you find your brother, you help me find the power of the El. I'll be there with you as your accomplice until both of our tasks are done. After being tied in that altar for 700 years, spending a little more time helping you should only take a short nap in comparison!"_

"R-Really?!" Ara brightened up. "With your power...could I wash away this shameful defeat upon my family?" After the two thought for a bit in deep silence, the girl spoke up once again agreeing to the hairpin. "I accept! I must find my brother and bring him back to normal! If you can help me do that, I'll help you find the El."

"_That's a good deal then! You may have heard of me or not, but I'm introducing myself anyway. I'm a frost fox that once saw the future back in the past, ironic isn't it? My name is Silver, a fox able to survive this long thanks to her nine tails. What about you miss?"_

Ara stared at the hairpin shocked. This is the Great Nine-Tailed Fox her parents told her about?! What an honor! "My name...is Ara. So you are a holy being? I wish for your protection on this journey."

"_Same here."_ The two nodded on their promise, with the hairpin jumping slightly. _"Oh yeah! Can you use me as a hairpin for your ponytail?_" Ara remembered about her long jet black hair still tied into a tail then looked back at the hairpin. _"This way we can keep in touch without others looking at us like we're freaks. Just whisper to talk to me whenever you're with others."_

Ara nodded and replaced the old hairpin on her hair with the Silver Hairpin, which she nicknamed after the fox that resided in it.

"_I saw your brother retreat south into the city of Hamel, why don't we check there first?"_

"Agreed!" With one last nod, the duo start their long trek to the grand city of Hamel.

* * *

**Mario: Wow...the detail man.**

**Me: I know I think I really got better at telling stories like this. The research is so worth it by the way!**

**Ara: Research?**

**Me: Yeah I actually looked up stuff and this is a pretty sweet backstory Ara!**

**Ara: :D :D**

**Mario: *puts up posters of Fire/Ara***

**Me/Ara: *death glares* *chases Mario***

**Crystal: ...You idiots *reads manga*.**

**Cheers to the first Ara story in Fanfiction (I think, if not then one of the few)! Read and Review what you guys think!**


	2. Chapter 2: Getting to know one another

**Me: Yay another chapter of Little Xia!**

**Mario: What's it about this time?**

**Me: Basically the gap between the two's departure from Isshun Village to Hamel Castle with the rest of the Elgang!**

**Crystal: Speaking of adventure stories, what about Virtual Journey?**

**Me: *sweatdrops***

**Mario: *death glares***

**Me: I'M WORKING ON IT! *runs away from Mario***

**Mario: GET BACK HERE! *chases Fire***

**Crystal: *facepalms* This should be fun. Chapter 2, START!**

**Characters and their classes (introduced in this chapter):**

**Elsword: Rune Slayer**

**Rena: Wind Sneaker**

**Aisha: Void Princess**

**Raven: Blade Master**

**Eve: Code Battle Seraph**

**Chung: Tactical Trooper**

* * *

_Chapter 2: Getting to know one another_

_The night before~_

"_Oh what's this?" Ran raised an eyebrow at the blinding white flash enveloping the sleeping Ara. The air around the two intensified as the sleeping beauty transformed. Her silky black hair slowly painting itself white, nine white elegant tails sprouting from her tailbone, and red fox markings on the cheekbones. Whatever the being is, it's definitely not the polite girl that once inhabited it. The being possessing Ara opened its red menacing eyes and stretched in its newborn puppet._

"_Ahhh." The same feminine voice that spoke to Ara moaned gentle dinosaur sounds whilst stretching. "Finally I'm awake after all this time." The being grabbed a nearby glass shard and admired her reflection. "My my so this is the young girl who awakened me?" It muttered, Ran standing completely dumbfounded. The being took a few moments to get used to the body and picked up Ara's spear, pointing it at the Demon General with an extended arm. "You!" It threatened. "You're the one trying to harm this girl correct?"_

"_That's correct whoever you are." Ran gave no hesitation, snapping back to reality. "My name is Ran, a Demon General at your service." After taking a mock bow at the possessed Ara, he looked up from his stance. "And just who might you be? I presume you aren't that stubborn girl from before?"_

"_You would be correct." The being twirled the spear with both hands before assuming a fighting stance. "I am the God who these people, the Haan, and this girl worship. My name is Gumiho, the Nine-Tailed Fox. Although...I always hated that name." The God grunted. "Call me Silver instead, sounds more fitting and humiliating for someone of your caliber to get crushed by a mortal being." Silver taunted._

"_My aren't we cocky?" Ran readied his grip on his newly dark-fused sword. "But that narcissistic attitude of yours won't get you anywhere with little combat experience 'God'!" He mocked, charging in with his sword._

"_I could say the same to you, Private." Silver returned the favor and dashed towards Ran with Ara's spear in hand._

_*CLASH!* The two weapons collided. The two locked in a power struggle._

"_Not bad." Silver noticed, having a slight advantage over Ran due to the more durable weapon. "But I guess the same can be applied to any ordinary swordsman." She mocked. _

"_Yeah, but you haven't seen all my tricks yet foxy!" Ran removed his left arm from the handle and extended it to the side, absorbing a bit of the darkness within the blade while keeping his hold against Silver. "BLACK FIRE CLAW!" His left arm is engulfed in shadow as he removed his weapon from the struggle and aimed the claw right at Silver's head._

_*GRAZE!* The attack barely hit her, only grazing her cheek. "Tch if I was an ordinary being without these heightened senses, you probably would've won." She bid for time, her cut healing in an immense rate. "Being a God really has it's perks you know." Silver claimed, revealing her healed cut to the shocked Ran._

"_I can see you worthy of your title now." Ran respected her. "But that doesn't mean I'm giving up just yet! SHADOW CLONE!" He brought his sword to his chest, the blade itself skyward. In an instant, two Ran's stood side by side in front of Silver._

_She raised an eyebrow at this and grinned. "Another trick? Two vs. one, finally a fair fight!" The three charged at each other, exchanging blows, swipes, stabs, and slashes as their little melee rages on. On the outer rim of the former Haan house, the few demons left standing debated with each other as they watched the fight._

"_Should we help General Ran? I mean he resorted to the Shadow Clone technique to take down this opponent! What kind of girl is she anyway?" One growled at the other._

"_She's the Great Haan's daughter remember? Ara? The sister of that man Ran possessed?"_

_The first one grinned. "Well good. What better way to solve a sibling fight than to bring company?" With a growl, the demon gathered the rest of the 50-man demon army and charged into the battlefield at the three. The ground around the three combatants rumbled as Ran recalled his clone and the remaining two look on at the horde of demons charging straight at Silver. She glanced at the Demon General with a disapproving look._

"_Here comes the cavalry. Looks like the general is nothing without his soldiers." _

"_Actually this turns out well for me." Ran reflected the bullet. "I'll get the job done much faster with my men by my side, so I suggest you hand over your spirit and the Moon El to us now."_

_Silver chuckled in defiance. "And bring this whole continent as well as my new-found freedom in jeopardy? I think not." _

"_Your loss then." With Ran's one-liner, the two resumed their battle with the demon army surrounding them._

_One by one the demons try unsuccessfully to hit or even distract the graceful Silver from her match against Ran only to be met with either a stab at the skull or, if they're unfortunate enough, sliced in half for "getting in the way". Several bouts of this routine left the foxy puppeteer bored, instead trying a new more efficient method to get rid of the rest of the demons. Once one last Shadow Port Walker took a stab at attacking Silver, she reversed the roles and literally turned the poor soul into a demon kabob. Keeping it in place, Silver searches through Ara's memories for any possible techniques the young Haan has learned from her youth._

_Ah here's one I'd like to try out! The fox muttered to itself, dropping her guard. Thanks to her ruse, all the remaining demons and Ran immediately charged at her. Fools! She thought to herself, stabbing the ground with her spear. After causing minimal initial damage to the ring of enemies closest to her, the entire stone floor beneath their big circle grew black in darkness. The demons fought unsuccessfully against the raging darkness that entangled their legs and hopelessly accepted their fate. _

_Silver however put on a kitty smile in response. "Bye bye!" She yelled out the skill that her container, Ara, named. "SHADOW RISING!" Immediately the shadows rose and pierced through the bodies of all the demons, later engulfing them into the shadow depths below. However one demon managed to escape._

_Ran stood unfazed and undamaged by the attack, raising an eyebrow finding the two alone. "I see you're more powerful than you let on little fox." He mocked, sheathing his blade over the shoulder. "I must bid you adieu for now. There's plenty more El to obtain our power than your precious Moon El." He started to take his leave._

_However Silver, still possessing the body, chased after him. "OH NO YOU DON'T DEMON!" She chased him as far as the central plaza, until he disappeared too quickly out of her sight. Suddenly a sudden migraine overtook the Nine-Tailed Fox, bringing her to her knees and dropping the spear. Silver tried her best to stay awake, but the comforting darkness that lured her from inside her eyelids proved too strong. She gave up and laid there, asleep clutching Ara's spear as the mysterious hairpin re-materializes on her other hand._

* * *

Present~

"So that's what happened?" Ara asked as soon as Silver finished her tale of the events that happened the night before. Ever since the Great Nine-Tailed Fox Silver joined her via her hairpin, the young Haan couldn't stop politely pestering it about what happened during the time she was asleep from the time she awakened the next morning. Unfortunately for her, Silver's story proved long and tedious, finally ending after a trek past the Great Sander Desert (which, by the way, is way more tiresome than it sounds) through the other peaceful villages unharmed from the demon attack that took the lives of everyone Ara loved.

"_Yep I pinky promise on that! You could ask that Ran guy the next time we see him, but he wouldn't be so inclined to share a story of one of his defeats. Man was your brother always so prideful before he got taken over?" _The Silver Hairpin talked in such a tone where Ara can imagine a stubborn girl flicking an ear talking casually to one of her friends.

"Y-Yes that's right!" Ara glowed in the same amount of pride Silver described. "The Haan family were a proud race of people who were praised for their excellent etiquette and, more importantly, their martial arts prowess. For example my weapon, the Haan Spear, is a symbol of my family's power as the 'king of the weapons.' The excited Haan rambled on. "Not to mention our social status in the village rivaled the caste named Vellalar which, from the words vel and aalar, means 'ruler of the spear'"!

"_Okay okay we get it you know your mythology smarts and all that. You're making me feel bad in not knowing all this stuff!" _Ara swore the teasing Fox hinted at a weeping tone. _"Now can we get going? I think I can see that great city Hamel from here!"_ Silver was right, beyond the mountain Ara was climbing lied a vast and grand white city surrounded by water. The young girl couldn't believe her eyes as she gaped at the beautiful sight. The city was grouped up together like sweet tasting vanilla ice cream. It was indeed a wonderful sight for the Haan...

...Until she noticed that some of the little white dots of the city were submerged underwater. "Oh no..." Ara noticed the water engulfing more and more of the little dots closest to the shore.

"_Damn." _The Hairpin mildly cursed. _"Looks like we're running out of time since Ran made it there before we did, damn his 10 hour head-start! C'mon Ara better step it up!" _And Ara did step it up, tripping and tumbling down the side of the mountain in her urgency to make it to Hamel quick. Groaning in pain from the painful (but faster) way going down she scrambled to her feet and ran towards the nearest building, Hamel Castle.

*Huff!* *Huff!* Ara breathed heavily from sprinting towards the building, grasping her knees in an effort to stay standing up. Suddenly something whizzed past her in an alarming rate, something black and demonic. Catching it with only a glimpse, she made out a familiar figure. _R-Ran?!_ It was too late for Ara whether or not to confirm the shadow's identity as it was gone as quickly as it showed up.

"HEY! YOU COWARD GET THE HELL BACK HERE!" Ara jumped at the obviously pissed masculine voice.

"KYAAAH!" The jump-scare really spooked the easily scared girl, passing out yet again.

_*sigh.* _The Silver Hairpin sighed. _"Looks like I'll have to take control for now, this Ara girl really needs to handle her body more carefully." _With those words Silver possessed Ara's sleeping body, transforming into the same creature it did the other night against Ran. Right as the transformation is complete the voice's speedy footsteps finally reached outside. _"Looks like I got that demon now! That'll teach him to scare poor Ara!" _Silver gripped the spear and, with timing, managed to score a direct hit at the being who just went outside.

*BONK!* The crashing spear collided with the poor crimson-haired boy's head, pushing him to the ground with a comically drawn bump on his head. Silver realized right away the boy was human and immediately regretted her mistake, letting Ara resume control again.

* * *

The Haan woke up with her spear in hand and an unconscious boy on the ground in front of her. Instinctively she switched gazes between her weapon and the boy again and again, blushes appearing on her face more heavily by the second. _H-Hang on?!_ The poor girl racked her brain for an assumption of the events. _That boy's clothes...his stomach and back are exposed. _With the thought she couldn't help but wonder her eyes at the specified areas at the boy laying down on his back, getting redder than his hair. _Did he...did he try to ra-_

"E-ELSWORD!" Suddenly a pretty elf in a green dress and her blonde hair tied in a ponytail rushed to the now named boy. The elf turned her gaze to Ara's quizzical and blushed look. "D-Don't worry it's not what you think young girl!" _Her voice sounded motherly and soothing._ Ara noted. "This young man here is always being so rash and tried to chase the demon that just escaped." After the elf finished talking the rest of her friends arrived.

Ara gulped when she saw four of them. One was a purple-haired girl with pigtails dressed in a very suggestive demon outfit facepalming herself at the sight of the crimson boy Elsword, a handsome and clean looking gentleman doing the exact same thing, a young man the same age as the unconscious boy carrying a _very _heavy-looking cannon looking on with sweatdrops as he reloads his aforementioned weapon, and a girl with silver hair traveling down her waist standing expressionless and merely fiddled with electricity through her hands.

"O-Oh El..." The purple girl muttered, going up to the elf. "That Elbaka is seriously gonna get some major brain damage and be even more stupid."

"Well served him right for not analytically thinking of any possible consequences for pursuing the demon named Ran." Ara's ears perked up at the electric girl's mention of the demon that raided her village, her brother.

"Hey come on guys!" The cannon boy spoke lighthearted. "Can't we just give him a break already? It's not his fault this pretty lady here smacked him to sleep with her weapon like that." He winked at Ara, forcing out more redness in the Haan's cheeks and an extremely painful slap from the electric girl. "Ow ow geez sorry Eve." The boy apologized to the electric girl, who Ara noted as Eve. "You're the only girl for me you know that?"

"Even as I do accept you as my only intimate partner Chung," Eve called out the cannon boy named Chung, "I stay emotionless regardless. You'd have a hard time trying to please me now in this Battle Seraph form than ever."

"Yeah I know Eve I know." Chung chuckled. Ara stood, still dazzled.

"Hey guys don't forget we still have an unconscious idiot and a lost girl in our hands?" The gentleman, a black haired adult clad in an all white suit, walked up to Ara as she became lightheaded from all the blushing. "Do you have anywhere to go young lady?"

Ara could hardly speak. "O-oh n-no-not rea-real-really!" Her words came quickly that she had to repeat them again in order to get the message clear.

"I see." The gentleman thought. "Why don't you come with us back at the hotel we're staying at in Hamel? You look like you came from a long journey and maybe very exhausted. Am I right?" Now that he mentioned it, Ara's legs feel stiff from all that walking and her whole body ached from tumbling down that mountain. She quickly nodded in gratitude. "Great, Rena can you help this young lady over here." He motioned to the elf to the Haan. "I'll go grab sleeping boy here. Too bad this is probably the only time all of us will ever catch any peace during our travels." The gentleman joked, earning a laugh from the rest of his friends.

"Sure Raven!" Rena, the elf, obliged, meeting up with Ara. "Here can you walk alright?" The elf grabbed her arm in permission.

"Yes, but I appreciate the help. Thank you." Ara thanked the elf as the latter wrapped her arm around her. The group headed back to Hamel in order to discuss the poor Haan's (and Silver, her hairpin form still unnoticed) situation.

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**Me: *tied to stake* HELP ME!**

**Ara: *unties Fire***

**Me: THANK YOU! *glomps Ara***

**Everyone Else and Ara: OAO**

**Me: ...Oh right the pairings for this story. Hm...I guess the usual: Elsword x Aisha, Raven x Rena, Chung x Eve.**

**Ara: What about me D:**

**Me: Well you're the main character, that's good enough :3**


	3. Chapter 3: The Gumiho God's Secret

**Me: Now here's a story I haven't updated in nearly 3 months. Man I really need to look back at my older fanfics more.**

**Mario: Well what took you so long this time?**

**Me: ...Got my VP a B Slot now :D! Plus I've been training my CN like crazy these past few days so uh...yeah. I sneaked in a little reference to something here, I'll give you a virtual cookie if you can find it (so freaking obvious too). Sorry for the wait, here's Chapter 3 of this rather old fanfic.**

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_Chapter 3: The Gumiho God's Secret_

"So let's see if I heard this correctly." Rena collected her thoughts and repeated Ara's words, the Haan seated rather nervously in the living room. "The demons massacred your entire village save for yourself and the one who led them is Ran, the same creature Elsword chased after back at Hamel Castle not to mention he's your brother, Aren, who was possessed by him. And your hairpin contains the Gumiho God, who you made a deal with to save Aren in exchange for finding the El and you're the only one who can communicate with her?"

"Yes that's correct." Ara politely nodded, glancing around her surroundings as Rena took her seat next to Raven on the couch across her. The hotel the black-haired gentleman described is nothing more than your ordinary inn, the room they're staying in similar to a standard 3LDK (a regular three room house with one each serving as a living room, dining room, and kitchen) along with a bathroom and two queen-sized beds. Right beside her is the unconscious red head known as Elsword sprawled on the couch as the purplenette applied an ice pack to his head with a concerned look on her face (not to mention irritation, implying that he really is as reckless as he seems). The Haan couldn't help but scoot to the other side because of how uncomfortable she seems being next to the same boy she (actually Silver) knocked out. Finally the last implied couple, at least in her eyes, were seated in the bed as the silver-haired Nasod, Eve, (as she self-proclaims) punished the blonde boy, Chung, by pinching his "Pikachu like" ears with electricity.

"Ara Haan was it?" Raven started on her, the rest of his friends completely ignoring Chung's innocent pleas of help. "You do realize that by accompanying with us in our journey you will oppose Ran in battle? Are you prepared act when the time comes even if he doesn't have the power to revert back to his original self?" He leaned over and rested his chin on his joined hands, his golden eyes staring intently at the Haan's amber ones.

"Yes I am fine." She decided. "We as the Haan have been taught never to have our emotions overtake us in battle, even when you're fighting one of your own."

"That's very admirable Ara." The golden eyed gentleman extended his right arm to her, asking for a handshake. "My name is Raven, I guess you can say I'm the second in command of our team here."

"Second in command?" Ara repeated, in shock that this mature and understanding man isn't the leader of a group where half of them are around her age. "Then who's the leader?" Immediately the couple across her and the purplenette pointed to the unconscious red head beside her.

"This idiot is our leader believe it or not." The purple girl sighed, gently caressing his face without a second thought.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't know he was your leader!" The Haan stood abruptly and bowed with an apology. Immediately showered by everyone's forgiveness (with a snickering remark from the poor boy being zapped) she sat down once again asking for the names of everyone else in the room.

"My name is Rena, pleased to meet you." The kind green elf smiled.

"I am the Nasod Queen Eve." The stoic robotic girl answered without so much as a glance.

"C-Chung!" Her poor victim quickly replied, getting right back to receiving punishment via sparks.

"And I'm Aisha." The purplenette in the devilish attire finally introduced herself then pointed a finger at their sound asleep leader. "This _idiot _here is Elsword. I swear he really needs to think about his decisions." She brought him up at the last minute, giving very snarky emphasis on the word idiot.

"I'm pleased to meet you all." Ara graciously provided her thanks.

Suddenly the red-headed Elsword started to stir. Everyone paused what they were doing and brought their attention to the awakening beauty (even Eve, who seemed to thrive on Chung's cute reactions). The Rune Slayer groaned and rubbed his aching head, stretching his other arm outwards.

Unfortunately his arm held onto something soft...and something belonging to Ara.

"Ugh..." He muttered half-asleep. "Must be...Rena again."

"N-N-N-No not R-Rena's!" The Haan quickly shot down Elsword's thoughts, unsure whether she should be more worried about being groped by the same person she knocked out or the indescribable rage his purplenette caretaker is feeling. Meanwhile the others (besides the motherly elf who quickly spouted at the red head to wake up) merely looked on with gleaming smirks, much to the dismay of the poor black-haired Ara.

Aisha couldn't stomach this any longer and aggressively yanked the Rune Slayer straight to the floor as soon as he let go of Ara. With him onto the floor she got on top of him and started choking him, waking the red head up instantly.

"YOU...AFTER ALL THE STUPID THINGS YOU'VE DONE SO FAR..." Her rage bursted out much to Ara's fear.

"A-Ai...not my...ult..." The poor crimson teen can't even breathe, the devilishly appropriate purple eyes glaring down at him. Satisfied enough the Void Princess loosened her grip prompting Elsword to immediately sit up and gasp for dear life. "God...dammit...Aisha. Not...again..." He spoke between rapid breaths.

"Here let me help you up." Elsword felt all his blood coming back to him and allowed the hand outstretched for him prop the Rune Slayer back to his feet.

"Thanks Rena." The crimson teen thanked the sweet and gentle elf...until he glanced to the other couch where the aforementioned Wind Sneaker (giggling no less) sat beside Raven.

"You might want to ask the name of the person who helped you up Elsword!" Rena advised. Confused, Elsword turned around to his helper, Ara.

"H-Hi." The Haan couldn't think of much to say, only awkwardly smile and introduce herself. "My name is Ara Haan, and you are?"

"Elsword, sorry for assuming you were someone else." He apologized. "Oh and you can let go of my hand now, I don't want to piss off a certain someone again." The Rune Slayer advised Ara as he smirked at his purplenette girlfriend, who turned away and pouted in response.

"O-Oh right." She retracted her hand in embarrassment.

"So who are you and why are you here?" Elsword and Ara recovered from their little scenario moments prior, the former asking for information about the latter. With a collective sigh from everyone else the Elgang (as the Rune Slayer dubbed their team name) informed the red head about the new girl and their current scenario. "Aha I see!" He cupped one of his hands and propped a fist on top of it. "So the same girl who hit me is the one standing right here, not to mention also coming along with us to chase her brother, that damn Ran, throughout Sander."

"Ah I almost forgot! My deepest apologies Elsword!" The Haan bowed down once again, this time with a dry comment from Eve to "not be so damn polite all the time".

"Yeah yeah." Elsword (reluctantly) accepted Ara's apology. "Oh right I have one more question. Before you knocked me out you had white hair with 9 tails instead of black hair, red eyes instead of amber, and now you have this white hairpin. Was that really you that knocked me out?"

The rest of them stared down at Ara (as if the already nervous Haan wasn't uneasy enough) after Elsword's question.

"_So how's the great Haan going to get outta this one huh huh?" _Silver finally intervened at the last second with a sly remark. Unfortunately for the owner of the Silver Hairpin, however, none of the other six reacted in any way. The Gumiho God was correct that only Ara can hear her.

"Well what am I supposed to do? We have no idea how they would react when you take over!" Ara whispered looking skyward as if having an argument with some imaginary being above her.

"So...is she gone cuckoo now?" Elsword whispered to Aisha, receiving a bonk to the head as a prize while being reminded that only the Haan can communicate with the aforementioned godly figure.

"_Then we just need to find out now don't we? You can't possibly only rely on me for more power if you're all alone right Ms. Haan?"_

"Well how do I get you to take control then? All the other times it's either blinding light or me fainting!" Ara whispered back, hopeful yet worried that Silver may find a way.

"_Try removing this hairpin. My power is probably containing your free will as long as you keep it on." _She suggested.

"O-Okay then." The Haan trusted her faith onto her alter ego, doing exactly as she said. Immediately upon doing so Ara's vision immediately blackened and her body fell limp onto the couch. The now unconscious corpse stood up after a few seconds as her hair recolored from black to white while nine tails grew out from behind. The being possessing Ara opened her now ruby colored eyes and smirked looking at her new friends.

"_Hallo kiddies!" _Silver mischievously introduced herself. _"My name is Silver, the Almighty Gumiho God, at your service." _She so grandly posed during her introduction.

"Well okay then." Elsword continued the two-sided introduction. "I'm-"

"_Yeah I already know who all you kids are. Elsword the dimwit, Aisha the slut, Rena the overprotective mother, Raven the fairy tale gentleman, Eve the semi Rei Ayanami Expy, and Chung the Pokemon." _In stark contrast to Ara's polite behavior, Silver is more blunt and disrespectful. As expected all six of them (especially the former two) are furious at this immature God.

"YOU!" The Void Princess levitated her axe-like staff towards her hand, gripping it firmly and pointing it towards Silver. The flame enveloping the tip of the staff resembling her anger.

"_Tsk tsk tsk." _The Gumiho God waved her finger at Aisha. _"If you hit me you might lose Ara's trust. You wouldn't want that won't you all?" _She warned all of them, using her container as the hostage.

"Hold up Aisha." Elsword threw an arm between the two, preventing his girlfriend to strike Silver. With a reluctant nod he turned around and faced the latter. "Alright then what the hell do you want?" He asked, his crimson bangs covering one of his eyes, as he took responsibility.

"_How kind of you to ask!" _She teased the Rune Slayer, walking over and picking up Ara's spear where the Haan left it by the front door. _"You see this little girl in there, Ara, just wants to Ran to return back to her brother Aren," _Silver reminded them of her goal once again while pointing at her head, _"and I oh so desperately want to get out of this hairpin using the El." _She juggled the hairpin in her palm.

"But you already took over that human's body didn't you?" Eve's stoic voice brought her, Chung, and the others back into the conversation. The Nasod Queen addressed the one with the title God in name only. "Why not just stick to that?"

"_You can say we share this body, however since Ara is the original owner she has more influence. I on the other hand can only control it for brief moment of time before she regains control. What I want is to have my own body which I can control all the time!" _She explained her goal to the Elgang, her container unaware of the events.

"That still doesn't answer my question." The crimson teen butted in Silver's explanation. "If we allow Ara and _you_ with us, is searching for Ran and any extra pieces of the El all you two desire?"

"_Yes...ugh..." _The Gumiho collapsed on the couch, holding her face. _"Guess my time's almost up. I only have one request, don't tell any of this to the girl. As much as it feels like I'm merely using her as a pawn I truly do not wish to trouble her more as it is." _She admitted.

"But all you'll be doing is stressing her even more-"

"Rena." Raven interrupted the Wind Sneaker and placed a hand on her shoulder while looking at Elsword. The latter nodded and turned back to Silver.

"Alright then Silver we agree. As long as your power is contributory to the group I have no problems. Even if some of us do walk the path of darkness our will is enough to suppress it, right Aisha?" The crimson teen glanced at the purplenette.

"Y-Yeah I guess I'll have to accept you too then." The Void Princess reluctantly agreed with Elsword.

"_Okay then...I'll bid you all...farewell for now." _Silver lost her power over the body, her vision turning to black as her soul returns to the hairpin. As quickly as the Gumiho God took over Ara's body did the latter regain it back. The white nine tails vanishing, her hair recoloring back to black, and sleepy amber eyes awakening. With her body back Ara yawned and stretched.

"H-Huh?" It took the Haan a few seconds to comprehend what happened, especially with the Rune Slayer and Void Princess looming over her on the couch. "A-Ah! Did she manage to talk to you guys!?" She remembered why she fell suddenly asleep.

"Y-Yeah." This time Chung answered her.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing much, she only introduced herself to us and we made a mutual agreement for you to join us. Isn't that right guys?" The Tactical Trooper lied and helped the rest of the team (reluctantly) agree with him.

"Oh that's great!" Ara beamed, her hands touching the spear on her lap. "Huh? Why's my weapon with me? Did Silver try to harm you guys?" She questioned.

"Actually she wanted me to inspect your weapon since I am a skilled swordsman." Raven kept up the act. "I have to say Ara, whoever crafted your spear did an excellent job."

"T-Thanks! I actually made this one myself!" The Haan thanked him and smiled, the smile of an innocent young girl.

"Well you might as well place your spear where the rest of our weapons are." Elsword suggested, pointing to the pile of weaponry resting beside the window. "We're resting tonight and checking out tomorrow morning. Hope you can get up by 9 so we can leave for Sander early."

"Of course! I always wake up around 6 for morning practice anyway!" Ara couldn't contain her excitement and skipped over to place her spear away (while the others couldn't fathom how someone can even get out of bed that early).

"This is great Silver! Now we'll have a much easier time finding my brother with our new-found strength!" The Haan whispered to the Silver Hairpin.

"_Yeah...a much easier time."_

As Ara (unnecessarily) decided where to place her spear, Elsword and Raven decided to have a chat. "So Raven you really think she won't get corrupted by that God's influence inside her? I don't think even Ara knows what Silver would really be like." He whispered to the Blade Master.

"Even so we'll just have to trust them right Elsword?"

"Right." The two concluded their split second exchange bluntly as Ara rejoined them, spending the night going over strategies on how to pursue Ran in Sander (not to mention play lots and lots of video games during their past times).

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**Ara: OAO**

**Me: So uh Silver's behavior...yeah I wanted her to contrast with the polite and idealistic Ara. Plus Gumihos in other fiction are usually portrayed as ambiguously good or bad so this should fit pretty well. Anyway leave a review on what you guys think on this chapter. As for now time to go train my VP and get excited for a new game called Closers!**


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